Pray Network Forum

On the day of Pentecost Peter stood up in the midst of all the people and declared to them the gospel. In Acts 2:22 he described Jesus as,

“A man attested to you by God with mighty works and wonders and signs that God did through him in your midst, as you yourselves know”

Don’t you think that was a strange way for Peter to say that. Wouldn’t you have simply said, Jesus performed miracles? He said “that God did through him.” You need to understand that when Jesus was born in Bethlehem He really became a man. He did not lay down His position as the Son of God. But He laid down His power.  John 5:19 says,

“The Son can do nothing of his own accord, but only what he sees the Father doing.”

Ephesians 3:20,21 says something crucial here.

“Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us,  to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen.”

What is the power at work within us? It is the moving of the Holy Spirit. And that is the exact same power that was it work in the life of Jesus. In fact in John 14:12 he said,

“Whoever believes in me will also do the works that I do; and greater works than these will he do, because I am going to the Father.”

Now what does that say to us about sharing the gospel? It tells us that the key to sharing Christ is prayer. In John 15 7,8 Jesus said,

“If you remain in me, and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish and it will be given to you. This is to my father's Glory that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.”

Every one of us needs to have a list of the people who do not know Christ, that God in His sovereignty has put us in contact with. And we need to pray for them everyday.

You know what else? Occasionally we have opportunities to witness that we didn't know were coming. Of course that means we need to and can have a consistent daily prayer life. But it also calls us to get into the habit of praying for people wherever we are. You can pray for a hundred people walking through a Walmart store. Have you ever stood in line say at the grocery store you don't have anything else to do I pray for those people one at a time in front of you.

Now some of you are asking, “What in the world would I pray for those people I do not know?” over the years I have Acquired and developed some memory Guides of things that I really do know to pray for people. But I was going in the article without telling you any of them. That is because part of developing the habit of praying for people Wherever You Are is going through the struggle of allowing the Holy Spirit to show you what to pray for people. And He will do that. I wait for that my wife's purging I will share one with you. It is not original with me I have forgotten exactly where I got it. It is an acrostic for the word B.L.E.S.S. We bless people in prayer.

BODY

Right for a person's physical needs.

LABOR

Pray for a person's work, ability, income, and purpose in life.

EMOTIONS

I pray for a hunger for God, and for ultimate peace.

SOCIAL

Pray for their relationships. Pray for a person's marriage. Relationships will be a barrier or an aid to a person's coming to Christ.

And SPIRITUAL

Pray for the Holy Spirit to draw them.

Who knows who God is preparing to use you to bring to Himself?

This is one of several blog entries taken from a sermon I preached at Crosspoint Church in Reno, NV. You can find the recording and other good things on their website.  http://crosspoint.org/index.php/2016-06-01-08-45-06/274-now-to-him-who-is-able-listen-carefully

http://thinkinginthespirit.blogspot.com/

http://watchinginprayer.blogspot.com/

http://writingprayerfully.blogspot.com/

http://daveswatch.com/

In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. These have come so that your faith—of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed. -1 Peter 1:6-7

Peter was writing to believers who were suffering in all kinds of ways. They lived in the midst of some of the greatest miracles and revelations of God in all history, yet they also endured some of the most terrible things that people have ever gone through.

It is to our advantage that the early church went through so many, and so severe, troubles. If they hadn’t, we might be tempted to think that our experience in this world is an exception to the rule.

Peter makes two very helpful and encouraging points here.

First, whatever it is that’s causing us pain, and however devastating it may be, it is purely temporary. It may for the moment be filling up the entire screen for us, but, even though this may seem unbelievable, it is for the moment! And we may feel like our problems or grief will never end. But, as sure as the sun rises each morning, there will come a day when it’s all over and we can look back upon our trial and either just laugh at it or simply reflect upon it with a new sense of maturity and wisdom.

And even if it lasts until our last day on earth, we all know by now that time passes so swiftly that we always seem to ask, “Where did the time go?” The trouble is for “a little while.” As a boy I discovered every year that the school term may seem unending, but inevitably the summer break came.

Secondly, we can be assured that whatever the nature of our temporary troubles, God is using them to perfect us. This life is like the refiner’s fire. The hotter it gets the better it is for us. Like the gold that gets more and more purified, we are getting more and more perfected by our suffering. We may not like this arrangement, for normally we want more and more comfort, but that not the way things always are. Because of our fallen nature, we aren’t likely to be matured and purified by more comfort, ease, and prosperity. If you look at any old saint they didn’t get that way by relaxing on a hammock under a shade tree, but by going through the fire.

In other words, Peter is assuring us that whatever happens to us in this life is for our good and for the growth of our faith. We’re being prepared for something great. Let’s keep in mind that the whole purpose of this life is to grow in trust in a trustworthy God and to spend eternity in his presence—and we have his promise and assurance that he will be with us always, and in every thing. So may our prayers not simply be “Lord, make it easier for me,” but “Lord, fashion me into the image of Jesus your Son.” And that is the goal of the Christian life.

It is the Lord who goes before you. He will be with you; he will not leave you or forsake you. Do not fear or be dismayed.
-Deuteronomy 31:8

If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples. -- John 15:7-8

Books about prayer promises are popular. "Ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you." Who wouldn't buy into that?

But like all promises in the Bible, this one has a context - and the context of this promise is fruitfulness. Six times in the first 8 verses of John 15, Jesus mentions fruit or fruitfulness. And he comes back to it in verse 16.

God longs to answer our prayers - but the condition for that in this passage is that we remain in Jesus, and his words remain in us.

I find myself missing the mark in two different ways when I think about the kind of prayer talked about in this passage - the kind of prayer that comes from remaining in Christ and has as its goal God's glory.

First, some of my prayer life is too taken up with the "whatever you wish" part. My prayers can be more about what I'm hoping for than about what I think will bring glory to God. To be sure, providing for His children does bring glory to God - but only if that provision results in our praise back to him. When I forget to be thankful, when I take for granted the many blessings (see my previous blog post for a few examples), then God's meeting my needs and his fulfillment of my desires becomes all about me, and doesn't bring him glory.

The second one is even harder for me. When I do pray for God to be glorified, when I ask him for courage and perseverance for the Persecuted Church, when I pray for the Gospel to go to the unreached, when I plead for a returning of my country to values based in his word - I often pray these things knowing that it's God's will to do them and knowing that it's his will for me to pray for them, but without enough faith to actually believe they're going to happen in a meaningful way. Though I long to see God glorified, I often fall into the trap of looking around me and believing what I see with my physical eyes rather than what I could see with the eyes of faith.

Fruitful prayer is not just about remaining in Christ - though it starts there. It's also about believing in God's answers and knowing that he does indeed respond to bring glory to himself. Faith tells me that my prayers for the advancement of God's kingdom are indeed being answered - even if my natural eyes don't see it.

What do all of these bullets below have in common?

• You need direction
• Someone near you needs direction in their life
• You are confused
• You have no peace

ANSWER: The God of peace (1 Corinthians 14:33) has the answer.

Lack of Peace is an Answer

And remember that if you DO NOT HAVE PEACE, this is also an answer.

You may call it a “check in your spirit.”

Until you have peace, you do not move forward.

No Peace, No Move!

Blessings My Friends,

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Blessings,

Mark

I first met Jim Essian when he played 3rd base for the Fort Worth Cats minor league baseball team and I worked with the team Chaplain. I next met him years later as he was starting a church in downtown Fort Worth. Many church plants don’t make it seven years, but many are not started by guys who hustle on every play, don’t mind getting their uniform dirty, and play every game to win. In seven years, Jim’s church plant has baptized over 200 people, planted another church down the road, entered the hard fight of racial reconciliation, all this gathering in 9 different Sunday venues, 6 different office spaces, using 5 different trailers to set up and tear down over 350 times. Jim’s key to planting/pastoring a church? “Read your Bible, pray, repent, worship, and plead with the Lord to send you good people filled with the Spirit.” I know that not all church planters begin on the same playing field, and it’s not fair to measure all by one, but when Jim Essian got on base, God hit a Home Run. The Apostle Paul said, “I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the increase” (1 Corinthians 3:6). Would you join me this week praying for those like Paul and Jim, who answered the call to “plant.”

“Humble yourself!”
He shouted it a second time.
“Humble yourself!”

It happened just after the end of the college football playoff game between Georgia and Oklahoma. As the two teams exited the field, after Georgia defeated Oklahoma in a thrilling double-overtime victory, one of the Georgia players spotted the Oklahoma quarterback and shouted those two words at him:

“Humble yourself!”

It was unique enough that the video clip spread across the internet. You can hear lots of things after a football game, but you’ll rarely hear anyone shout, “Humble yourself!”

It remains good advice for all of us. If pride is the first sin, then humility is the first virtue. Years ago I learned the First Rule of the Spiritual Life: He’s God and we’re not. All spiritual growth starts with this truth. Until you grasp what it means, you are still in spiritual kindergarten.

James 4:6-10 fleshes out what it means to humble yourself in the eyes of the Lord. In this passage we discover six steps that unlock the path of God’s blessing for his children.

Would you like to know God better? Humble yourself!
Would you like to receive God’s approval? Humble yourself!

Would you like to break through to victory? Humble yourself!

Would you like a closer walk with God in 2018? Pay attention to this passage because it will help you jumpstart your spiritual life.

# 1: Take a Knee

“But he gives more grace. Therefore it says, ‘God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.’ Submit yourselves therefore to God” (vv. 6-7a).

Humility doesn’t come naturally to most of us. It’s the virtue which, if you think you have it, you probably don’t. D. L. Moody used to pray, “Lord, make me humble, but don’t let me know it.” 

No one likes being told what to do. We would rather be in charge of our own affairs, and that’s why the whole notion of surrendering our pride to the Lord sounds strange at first. But there is no other way to get better. There is no other way to be healed. There is no other way to be forgiven. There is no other way to find a new life.

We can fight the Lord, or we can surrender everything to his control.

When we fight, we lose.
When we surrender in faith, we win.

Some friends saw this sign painted on the side of a bus in Nigeria: “Man no be God.” That sums it up, doesn’t it? You aren’t God, you never were, and you never will be. Start there, and you’ll be on the right path.

Humility grows best in the rich soil of God’s grace. Don’t pray for more humility; pray for more grace. Pray that God will pour out his grace in your heart so that you will only boast in the Lord.

The proud man must constantly remind you how great he is. He brags because he wants you to praise him. But if you have to tell me how great you are, how great could you possibly be? The braggart brags because he’s trying to convince you (and himself) of how great he is. The humble man doesn’t brag because the truth speaks for itself. He leaves his reputation in the Lord’s hands because it doesn’t matter to him what others think. He wants God’s reputation to become great in the land. What happens to him doesn’t matter as long as the Lord’s cause goes forward.

Walking in humility means you confess your sins, you forgive your enemies, you admit your mistakes, and you don’t brag about how great you are. It also means you serve others with a smile, not with a frown.

“God opposes the proud.” Don’t let that happen to you!

“But gives grace to the humble.” So pray for the grace you need.

Take a knee.
You’ll be glad you did.

# 2: Fight Back

“Resist the devil, and he will flee from you” (v. 7b).

This is both a command and a promise. If we submit to God, we may be sure that when we resist the devil, he will flee from us. We have no power in ourselves against the devil, but he has no power to use against us when we fight with God’s power. By ourselves, we can’t win; with God’s help, we can’t lose.

The word “resist” is a military term. It means you stand and fight. You don’t run away. We are to flee temptation, but we are to fight the devil. That means taking up the armor of God and standing in the evil day (Ephesians 6:10-17). 

Satan is like a football coach studying the opposing team. He has “game film” on us, he knows our weaknesses and our strengths, and he uses what he knows against us. If he can get you discouraged, he’s already won the battle. He knows when you lose your temper. Satan isn’t equal to God, but he’s a lot smarter than you or me.

Don’t be surprised when he hits you out of the blue. Fight back!
Don’t be surprised when he comes to you with a seductive temptation. Fight back!

Don’t be surprised when he whispers in your ear in a moment of weakness. Fight back!

The devil is a murderer by nature (John 8:44). He will destroy your career, your marriage, your family, and your ministry if you let him. You’ve got to stand and fight.

Fight back with the Word of God.
Fight back by singing great hymns.

Fight back by praying to Jesus.
Fight back by leaning on your brothers and sisters.

Fight back by confessing Christ openly.

Fight back by coming to the Lord’s Table.

Fight back by fleeing every temptation.

Stand and fight, child of God!

Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.

# 3: Draw Near

“Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you” (v. 8a).

The question is not, how near is God to us, but rather how near are we to him? Every married couple understands that proximity is one thing, but intimacy is something else. A couple may be seated on the same couch but be miles apart from each other. They may sleep together but not share the same bed spiritually. It is quite possible to be married and live entirely separate lives.

Drawing near to God starts in the heart. Take another married couple and watch them for a moment. She may be knitting or playing the piano. He may be reading a book or listening to her play the piano. Minutes may pass without a word being spoken, but they are happy together. He has drawn near to her, and she has drawn near to him.

If we come to God with that same desire to know him, he will draw near to us. You do not need to be an advanced Christian or a super-saint or a deep Bible student. The newest saint and the weakest believer may know God’s presence.

Years ago I heard the question put this way, “If God feels far away from you, who moved?” It’s never the Lord. We may know his presence and feel his pleasure if we truly want it. He will draw near to you if you draw near to him.

# 4: Clean Up

“Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded” (v. 8b).

We must cleanse our hands because they are dirty with sin.

We must purify our hearts because they are divided, and we are distracted.

This means we stop making excuses for bad attitudes, for casual unkindness, for clever put-downs, for dabbling in pornography, for bragging about our accomplishments, for envy of others, for bitterness, for a critical spirit, for our prayerlessness, for our need to be in control, for giving in to despair, for hating our enemies instead of loving them, and for our failure to do what we ought to do.

Here’s a useful way to apply this truth. Take some time to get alone with God. Pray this simple prayer: “Lord, show me the truth about myself.” Then write down what the Lord shows you. In my experience, you can’t do this in ten minutes, and you can’t do this when you are busy. It takes time to open your heart to the Holy Spirit. When I have done this, I have been appalled at what the Lord reveals to me about my own heart, but then I have been glad for the cleansing that comes from confession and repentance.

Hosea 10:12 offers us a wonderful promise:

“Plow up the hard ground of your hearts, for now is the time to seek the LORD, that he may come and shower righteousness upon you” (NLT).

Plowing is hard work because it means digging up the rocks and pulling the weeds that keep the good fruit from growing. But if we by God’s grace do the hard thing, the Lord promises to send the rain that produces a new life with new joy and fresh fruit from heaven.

# 5: Get Serious

“Be wretched and mourn and weep. Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom” (v. 9).

This isn’t exactly “your best life now,” and it doesn’t sound like the “abundant life” or the “life that wins.” In fact, this verse runs counter to the “I want to be happy all the time” version of Christianity that is very popular in the West.

Be wretched—Who wants to be wretched?

Mourn—Don’t worry, be happy.

Weep—That’s a real downer.

If we laugh, we should stop it and start mourning.

If we have joy, turn it into gloom.

I’ll be the first to agree that this verse, stated this way, seems like a downer. But let’s step back and ask ourselves what James means by all this.

Is he a killjoy? No, that can’t be right.
Is he a Nattering Nabob of Negativism? Whatever that is, that’s not who he is.

Is he a frowning Puritan? That’s not fair because the Puritans were supremely happy in God.

James wants us to get serious about our relationship with God. When theologian R. C. Sproul died in December 2017, Russell Pulliam wrote an assessment of his life in the Washington Post. He located Sproul’s huge influence in the fact that he believed in the theology of John Calvin. That led to this sentence:

"Sproul believed that we are more sinful than we usually think we are."

That’s spot-on accurate, both as a statement of what Sproul believed and of the true American self-assessment. Most people, even those who don’t go to church, would agree they are sinners. That is, no one’s perfect, we all make mistakes, and so on. It’s not hard to get people to agree with that concept. But the Bible goes much further. It tells us that sin has infected every part of human life, that we are spiritually dead, spiritually blind, lost, separated from God, and without hope in the world. The Bible reveals the solemn truth that “all have sinned” (Romans 3:23). We have all missed the mark. The whole human race is lost, broken, dead, blind, deaf to God’s truth, in a state of perpetual rebellion, and so separated from God that we are under his wrath, and bound for eternal punishment in hell.

That’s what God says about the whole human race.

That’s God’s verdict on you and me.

If you don’t believe that, or if you think that’s too harsh, or if you can’t handle the truth, then this verse will make no sense to you.

It all depends on how messed up you think you are.

Small sinners need a small Savior.
Moderate sinners need a moderate Savior.
Bigtime sinners need a bigtime Savior.

We are all bigtime sinners!

Once we see our sin as it really is, we will be wretched and mourn and weep. We’ll stop laughing and start crying. We’ll let our joy be turned to mourning. And that opens the door to the abundant life we all seek.

Weeping may endure for a night, but joy comes in the morning.

This promise comes true whenever we decide to take God seriously.

# 6: Stay Low

“Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will exalt you” (v. 10).

When my friend Don Lough became the Executive Director of Word of Life a few years ago, he asked his mentor Howard Hendricks for his advice. His reply was simple: “Lie low and exalt Christ.” That’s a good word for all of us. We can brag on ourselves, or we can exalt Christ, but we can’t do both at the same time. That sentence stands as a powerful admonition for every Christian. It is great advice because it describes two choices. You can exalt yourself, or you can exalt Christ, but you can’t do both. When we decide to lie low and exalt Christ, there is no limit to what the Lord may choose to do through us.

I began this sermon by talking about one football player who shouted at another football player, “Humble yourself!” What he said to his rival, God says to us. His message is crystal clear.

We can be blessed, but we must humble ourselves.

We can change, but we must humble ourselves.
We can experience the abundant life, but we must humble ourselves.

In the early days of 2018, many of us are thinking about how we can get a fresh start and make a new beginning. James 4:6-10 shows us the path that will jumpstart your spiritual life:

Take a Knee.

Fight Back.

Draw Near.

Clean Up.

Get Serious.

Stay Low.

In the Kingdom of God, the way up is down. If you humble yourself, the Lord will raise you up.

One final thought keeps ringing in my head. Verse 6 reminds us that God “opposes” the proud. Ponder that for a moment.

Could a Christian be an enemy of God? Yes. If that is not true, then these words of James have no application to most of us.

Could God be “opposed” to one of his own children, even though he loves them with an everlasting love? The answer is yes because God loves us so much that he will not leave us the way we are. His love leads him to “oppose” our pride, our anger, our loose tongue, our lust, our unkind spirit, and all the excuses we make for our sin.

It’s like those old Fram oil filter commercials where the mechanic says, “You can pay me now or you can pay me later.” If you humble yourself now, God won’t have to do it later. A wise pastor friend told me “the first price you pay is always the cheapest.” He’s right. The price for dealing with our problems never goes down; it always goes up. That’s true personally, and it’s true for our relationships. We put off dealing with our issues because we think it will cost too much to deal with them now. But that’s a huge mistake. Sin left untouched always grows. It’s like a deadly cancer you leave untreated. Sin always spreads because it is the cancer of the soul.

We can humble ourselves in the eyes the Lord, or we can go on living the way we want until the time God decides to humble us. The choice is ours.

Every blessing awaits those who will humble themselves before the Lord.

This is the promise of God, and it is good news indeed. May God help us to take these words to heart.

O Lord, grant us grace that we might humble ourselves in your sight. Show us where pride has taken root. Shine the light of your Word on the hidden parts of the heart. Where we have sinned, have mercy. Restore us, O Lord, that we may rejoice in you once again. Amen.

1 Thessalonians 5:18 tells us to give thanks in all circumstances. Although scripture instructs us to live with thankful hearts, some times of the year tend to turn our minds more than usual toward thanksgiving. For me, the start of a new year is such a time.

I enjoy looking over the previous year, recalling what God has done that I'm thankful for - kind of like how Joshua had 12 men take stones from the middle of the dried-up Jordan riverbed to create a memorial to what God had done in getting them into the Promised Land (Joshua 4).

So, here are a few of my "stones of remembrance" for 2017 - things God has done or experiences he has given me that I'm thankful for:

• The ability to work from home (losing the 4-hour a day commute that I had when I was living in the Chicago area)
• Weekly time with my parents, watching Turning Point and beginning our spiritual lives together
• The National Quartet Convention in September, full of music honoring God and encouraging us.
• The annual Write-to-Publish conference, learning more about writing, making good contacts, and spending time praying about God's direction for my writing
• Time with my best friend Mike, mutually encouraging each other and sharing what God is doing in our lives
• Significant improvement in my wife's health, thanks to a doctor God led us to

I'm sure I'm forgetting many things - but wanted to acknowledge publicly some of the blessings from God that I'm thankful for over 2017.

How about you? Has God brought an unexpected blessing? Brought you through a difficult situation? Revealed himself to you in new ways? What are you thankful for in 2017?

Most of us have grown cynical about New Year's resolutions. But if we are pressed we would admit that they could be good things. Have you ever kept one? If you have, you surely think that was a good thing. But why are they so difficult to keep? I believe the fundamental problem is our approach to resolutions. We make them, and try to keep them in the flesh.

Goals are great things for Christian Believers. But they need to spring from our relationship with Christ. I am intrigued by the title, Habits of The Heart, although I have not read the book. I recently looked it up on Amazon.com. I actually found two items, Habits of The Heart, individualism and commitment in American life, and Habits of The Heart, 365 daily exercises for living like Jesus. The latter has to be better.

But as most of us can attest, even godly goals can be approached in the flesh. It is better to begin with promises. Ask God to direct you to promises He wants you to focus on as you begin the year. You will have to spend serious time reading your Bible to do this right. Then, memorise the Scripture or Scriptures God is directing you to.

Finally, the most important factor in keeping a New Year's commitment is prayer. Don't just say, “I will do this,” or “I will do this if it kills me.” Pray, “Lord, I need You to produce this in my life.” The reminder on your mirror might read, “Father, glorify Your name as You do this in me.”

http://thinkinginthespirit.blogspot.com/

http://watchinginprayer.blogspot.com/

http://writingprayerfully.blogspot.com/

http://daveswatch.com/

Here’s a Christmas word for you. The oft-read “Christmas Story” from Luke 2, contains a wonderful word, largely a lost word in our vocabulary – “ponder – “to consider something deeply and thoroughly; to meditate; to weigh carefully in the mind; to consider thoughtfully.” “Mary kept all these things and pondered them in her heart” (Luke 2:19). One of God’s greatest gifts is the gift of memory. In fact, much of our Christmas observance is spent remembering, pondering. And pondering has a direct connection to praying, and an even closer connection to meditating. In his book, “Too Busy Not to Pray” Bill Hybels wrote, “When the spirit of adoration takes over and we begin pondering God's attributes, we soon say from the heart, 'I am praying to a tremendous God!' Which only motivates us to keep on praying.” I’m praying today for a Merry Christmas and a Happy Pondering!

 The Christmas tree, the most celebrated symbol of Christmas is an evergreen tree, representing life. The custom of erecting a Christmas tree is historically traced to the 15th century. “The tree was traditionally decorated with edibles such as apples, nuts, or other foods. In the 18th century, it began to be illuminated by candles, which were ultimately replaced by Christmas lights after the advent of electrification. Today, there are a wide variety of traditional ornaments, such as garland, tinsel, and candy canes. An angel or star might be placed at the top of the tree to represent the angel Gabriel or the Star of Bethlehem from the Nativity. “ [1]  

The branches of the evergreen tree, remind us of the many roles we have in our lives such as parenting, grandparenting, great-grandparenting. They also tell us of all the relationships we have with our family, friends, neighbors, our careers, hobbies, activities, sports, etc. As we submit, each of these branches to God He can adorn them with ornaments, as He develops our character, with the fruit of the Spirit.

Let’s look at the ornaments on the tree representing the fruit of the Spirit. When we accept God’s unconditional LOVE in our hearts allowing His love to flow through us to others, he will give us JOY. Our hearts will be full of joy amidst the daily challenges of our lives because “The joy of the Lord will be our strength”. When we experience the JOY of the Lord as our strength, we will have PEACE. PEACE is calmness in our hearts amidst the challenges we face, extending through our lives to others. After our adorning with love, joy, and peace, we will are empowered with PATIENCE, an attitude that does not lose hope for others even if they irritate or hurt us. KINDNESS expressed with our words and deeds to a sad or lonely heart may be their connection to Jesus. Then GOODNESS will flow into good works from our kind heart reflecting the character of God attracting others to Jesus.    

Another ornament placed on the tree is FAITHFULNESS. Just as God is faithful to us, it is essential that we too are dependable and trustworthy with others. Faithfulness brings us to GENTLENESS, an ability to be pleasant, composed and controlled in the daily challenges of life. The last ornament we will place on the tree is SELF-CONTROL, which adorns our lives with the character of strength to restrain us from doing wrong. We cannot have self-control without all the other ornaments.    

Then the tree will be wrapped with a garland of God’s righteousness, and the star placed on the top directing people to Jesus. We will plug in the lights

illuminating the tree representing Jesus the light of the world, a symbol of hope. Just as we have beautiful Christmas trees in our homes, our lives will be fascinating when adorned with the fruit of the spirit.  

This year let’s give our grandchildren a spiritual application of the Christmas tree representing everlasting life adorned with the ornaments of the fruit of the Spirit, wrapped with the garland of God’s love, the star directing others to Jesus, and shining as lights in a dark world.

Pray that your grandchildren together with their parents and yourself will stand as a symbol of hope in a dark world adorned with strength and beauty of the fruit of the spirit like the beautiful Christmas tree. The most significant and most lasting Christmas gift you can give your grandchildren is the gift of a praying grandparent.  

By Lillian Penner, Author of Grandparenting with a Purpose, http://www.gdptpr.com

¹ Christmas tree, Wikipedia

Many years ago my parent's church began a 24 hour Prayer Room. I heard some powerful testimonies of what God did through this ministry. I was also blessed to see things God did in the lives of my family members and others I knew who participated.

Many of you are familiar with churches that have 24 hour prayer rooms. Some were large enough we may began that they did not have too much trouble filling the hours. Others went out on faith trusting God to help them fill the 168 prayer slots each week.

Churches appoint someone to organize and administer this ministry. They set aside a room usually with an outside entrance. And they invite and recruit people to sign up for specific prayer times. My parent's church encouraged people to have a prayer partner who signed up to pray with them each week. These churches place prayer requests and possibly a church roll in the room for people pray through. My parent's church put a telephone in the room and publicized the number for people to call to pray with someone 24 hours a day seven days a week.  

My nephew, Trent Young, was a very young man when they started the prayer room. And it had a profound effect upon his life. He wrote me this about the prayer room.

“I usually went in the after-midnight hours because I worked late, and these were always open. I was scared to death someone would call. But hardly anyone ever did. I spent a little time praying over requests. I mostly praised God and spent time with Him.

“I put in two or three hours there a couple of nights a week. I don't know why praying in the prayer room was more important than praying at home, but it seemed to be. My prayer life developed during this time. It was non-existent before.

“The regiment, the scheduled length of time and the accountability was helpful in training me to pray and developing my relationship with God. Everyone seems to think that one has to have a prayer life before joining a prayer room or even a prayer group. But I think the opposite. I think these are the schools that God uses to develop our prayer life.”

Max Alexander, one of the pastors of my parent’s church when they were starting the prayer time, told me they faced more spiritual attack at that time than he had ever seen in his life. But they seemed to have more victory in people’s lives than they had ever seen. God will bless a church that is this serious about prayer.

http://thinkinginthespirit.blogspot.com/

http://watchinginprayer.blogspot.com/

http://writingprayerfully.blogspot.com/

http://daveswatch.com/

When my husband and I attended a reunion in Branson, MO we saw the excellent performance of The Miracle of Christmas at the Sight & Sound Theatre. I was impressed by how they displayed the emotions of Mary and Joseph when faced with the announcements of Gabriel.

While the Jewish nation was waiting for God to free them from living in Roman bondage God sent the angel Gabriel to tell Mary, “You are highly favored! The Lord is with you . . . You will be with child and give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus…” Since she was, a Virgin Mary was greatly troubled and questioned the angel. Gabriel said, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. . . For nothing is impossible with God.” Mary recognized God’s voice and answered, “I am your servant, and may it be to me as you have said”. Then the angel left her.

Joseph, Mary’s fiancée, was troubled when he learned Mary was found to be with child through the Holy Spirit. He did not want to expose her to public disgrace, so he had in mind to divorce her quietly. However, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, “Do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will give birth to a son, and you are to name him Jesus because he will save his people from their sins (bondage).” When Joseph woke up, he did what the angel commanded him and took Mary home as his wife but had no union with her until she gave birth to a son. And he named the son Jesus.  

Even though Mary and Joseph questioned the angel, they recognized the voice of God and submitted to his agenda, not knowing what it would mean for them and their people at the time.

Pray your grandchildren will live so close to God that when He speaks to them, they will recognize His voice, listen to Him, follow Him in obedience, and trust Him, as Mary and Joseph did. They were greatly troubled; however, they recognized the voice of God that the angel Gabriel delivered, and they obeyed. Mary had the honor of giving birth to Jesus, the long-awaited Messiah fulfilling what the Lord had said through the prophet Isaiah.

Ask yourself: “Do I recognize and obey God’s voice when He speaks to me”?

May God bless you and your family richly as you celebrate the birth of our Lord Jesus Christ.

By Lillian Penner Co-Prayer Director of Christian Grandparenting Network, lpenner@christiangrandparenting.net

Let me be the first to admit that sometimes, my prayers don't get answered. It happens to everyone. We're all on a journey, growing in the knowledge of who God is and how He works. No one - not even the most "spiritual" believer you know - has his prayers answered all the time! 

But in 30+ years of growing in the Lord, I've discovered that there are some prayers that are powerful. More powerful than others. One such prayer is asking God for what we call "Divine Appointments."

Read more: CLICK HERE

For the past few days I have been dealing with some severe anxiety and depression. Does the Bible say anything about this? It does indeed. In fact the Bible deals more comprehensively with depression than any other source I know. In places like Elijah in the cave in 1 Kings 19 and quite a number of Psalms God shows us that the cause depression can be physical, dietary, cultural, situational, psychological, moral, or spiritual. It is often caused by several of these simultaneously.

And being tempted in all points like us,(Heb.4:15) Jesus also faced anxiety.

God has spoken powerfully to me in John 12:27,28 where Jesus said,

“Now is my heart troubled, and what shall I say? 'Father, save me from this hour'? But for this purpose I have come to this hour. Father, glorify your name!" Then a voice came from heaven: ‘I have glorified it, and I will glorify it again.’”

Let me share with you four crucial perspectives by which Jesus dealt with His own anxiety.

First Jesus saw the Perspective of Time.

He said, “Now is my heart troubled.” Your anxiety, and for that matter your crisis, is temporary.

Viktor Frankl rightly directed people to ask themselves how they would want to behave in a particular situation if they were looking at it from the end of their lives. Jesus clearly dealt with more horrific circumstances then you and I can imagine. He endured them for the joy set before Him.(Heb.12:2) While your reason for anxiety is not nearly as great as His, you will share in the fullness of His glory.

Jesus also saw from the Perspective of Purpose.

He asks, should I pray for God to deliver me from this trial? “But,” He concludes, “it was God's purpose for me to be disturbed in trial.” God has put you in this place as well.

Do you remember what Satan said to God when the Lord pointed out Job’s obedience? “But you've put a hedge about him. Job doesn't really love you. He just serves you because you've made it easy for him.”

You need to be in this place for God to prove that He can work even your anxiety together with everything else for good.

The chorus of Laura Story's hymn, Blessings, says,

“What if Your blessings come through raindrops?

What if Your healing comes through tears?

What if a thousand sleepless nights are what it takes to know You're near?

What if trials of this life are Your mercies in disguise?”

You are going through this trial for the high purpose of Almighty God on the earth and in eternity. Stand straight. Be strong. Call upon God for His grace to obey Him in the midst of it.

Jesus prayed from the Perspective of God's Glory.

Jesus knew that His purpose in eternity and upon this Earth was to glorify God the Father. That is our purpose as well. Many of you know that activity, especially good, wholesome, productive activity is a great help in dealing with depression. I know of no activity that so effectively counters anxiety and depression as that of praising God out loud. Our anxiety is worsened because we are so focused on ourselves. And until we break our self-preoccupation with praise of Almighty God, it will keep us bound.

Finally, Jesus experienced God's Presence.

God thundering from the heavens was a rare occurrence, even as Jesus walked upon this Earth. But the presence of God is not rare for a believer in Jesus Christ. And nothing usher's you into nearness with God like recognizing His presence and praising Him, praying and glorifying His Name. When you connect with the reality, purpose, and Glory of God, you will sense His presence as never before. Philippians 4:5 says, “Let your reasonableness be evident to all, the Lord is near.” The King James Bible says, “Let your moderation be evident.” In 1 Timothy 3:3 this word is translated, “gentle.” There the King James used the word, “patient.” The point is, you don't need to be anxious, the Lord is near you.

http://thinkinginthespirit.blogspot.com/

http://watchinginprayer.blogspot.com/

http://writingprayerfully.blogspot.com/

http://daveswatch.com/

Prayer and More

Every time there is a mass shooting in a church, someone asks me if it causes me to re-live the emotions of September 15, 1999 at Wedgwood Baptist Church in Fort Worth – my home church – where a lone gunman entered a “See You at the Pole” Rally with two guns, two hundred rounds of ammunition, and a home-made pipe bomb. Before he took his own life, he killed seven people, wounded seven others, and traumatized hundreds including members of my family. The answer is always the same – an agonizing yes.

But this time – First Baptist Church, Sutherland Springs, with 26 dead, twenty injured, and a small Texas town traumatized – my mind went to another event.

When I was the Baptist campus minister at Pan American University, we were on a retreat in the mountains of southern Mexico. We had been warned not to go outside the camp after dark due to the wild animals in the mountains. Nevertheless, a student named, Jimmy, did just the opposite. When word got out about his absence in camp, students gathered in the cafeteria. After a long silence, a student said, “I think we need to get in a circle and pray” to which another student, a new, not-yet-discipled student, exclaimed, “Pray H____! Let’s go get Jimmy.”

Last week, and following every mass shooting, there were a lot of people encouraging prayer. I’m all for it. We need to pray. Survivors need our intercessory prayer. Injured, most definitely need prayer. But we all need more. It’s time someone did something about automatic weapons designed for warfare, but then used for killing innocent people, even children.

It’s time someone did something about mental illness, especially that which leads to violence. It’s time someone did something about those who “fall through the cracks” of society’s law and order. Pray? Absolutely. But isn’t it about time to go get Jimmy, to do something to prevent further trauma?

By the way, as you pray, remember to pray for spiritual awakening. It may well be the only solution.

Does your church have a prayer corner in the worship center? I Know a church that designates a back corner of their worship center as a place of special prayer. In every service they invite people to slip back at any time to pray. Members of a prayer team are there to pray with anyone who wishes.

They accomplish a number of important things with this. First, this helps to create an atmosphere of prayer in a church. Some might say, “We already have that. We pray throughout our services.” That is of course good. But in the church I where I observed this people began asking themselves if they should go back and pray. There is a difference in hearing a prayer and being invited to pray yourself. This practice helps normalize prayer in a congregation. People are told, at least by implication, that it is alright to need to pray. It is a normal thing to pray.

This helps to accommodate people who come into the church with burdens. This is a powerful way to tell them God cares about their heartache.

http://thinkinginthespirit.blogspot.com/

http://watchinginprayer.blogspot.com/

http://writingprayerfully.blogspot.com/

http://daveswatch.com/

A person who was healed physically after a believer had prayed for him is studying the Word with a believer. This person has also invited a friend to join him in the study. Praise the Lord for this healing and pray that hearts may be open, given spiritual understanding, and come to faith as they study the Word with the believer. Pray also for protection and wisdom over the believer.

Give praise that after much resistance to spiritual conversations, a local lady is suddenly showing interest in hearing more about the truth. Please ask the Lord to continue to soften her heart, take away fear, and draw her into His Kingdom. Ask too that believers will persevere in sharing even when met with resistance time and again.

Please pray that those who have had dreams or visions of Jesus Christ would not be fearful or dismissive but would experience great joy and a desire to know more. Ask God to connect them with believers who can help answer their questions and guide them to the way of salvation and relationship with Jesus Christ.

Many adherents to Islam live with an attitude of simply accepting the culture, traditions, and religion without question. Please pray that the Holy Spirit will stir their hearts and minds with questions and dissatisfaction and set them on a journey to find true the Peace.

The relative affluence of the Gulf, as does affluence anywhere, can cause a sense of entitlement as well as a lack of awareness of the needs of the less privileged. Pray for humble hearts that will receive the great love offered by our Heavenly Father and in turn bring radical change in the culture.